


Sidequests

by katrinawritesthings



Category: SHINee
Genre: Brotp, Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katrinawritesthings/pseuds/katrinawritesthings
Summary: when you’re a bounty hunter for dangerous fiends but the dude that lives at your favorite rest stop rescues animals so he’s always grumpy at uTaemin leans back on his palms, watching as Jonghyun turns back to his charge and makes soft, soothing noises as he wets his scrub brush again. The flarequestrian huffs and grumbles, flicks its tail in the grass and wiggles when Jonghyun gently scrubs up to its neck. Taemin can see fiery red glowing from underneath its skin and shakes his head disbelievingly. Whenever he sees one of these horses in the wild he avoids them as quickly and effectively as possible. Not worth the trouble or the burns, but Jonghyun leans over its head and pets its nose softly, not worried at all about the possibility of it opening its mouth and scorching him to a crisp.tumblr





	Sidequests

Taemin closes his eyes as he walks, smiling up at the sun as she shines down on him. This is so nice. Calm. Relaxing. Gentle crops sway behind the corner of a fence as he approaches his favorite little cottage on the west side of the plains. **  
**

And also the only little cottage on the west side of the plains, the only rest stop between the city and the beach camp on the other side of the hills up ahead. But that’s not why it’s his favorite. He trails his right hand over the fence as he walks, smiling at the leaves that brush his fingertips. He’s watching the left side of the path, looking for any fiends hiding behind rocks or sparse trees and hands prepared to grab either his crossbow or his dual swords out of habit, but like usual, it’s calm here. Jonghyun makes sure of that.

When he reaches the far corner of Jonghyun’s garden fence he grabs the post and swings himself around and onto his cobbled walkway. Wind chimes tingle as he steps up and he cocks a brow, amused. There’s been barely any wind all day. He always suspected that they were enchanted. Jonghyun likes people even less than he likes fiends trying to eat him or his plants.

Taemin steps up his porch steps and knocks on his front door, looking over the intricate designs carved into the frame curiously. They look cleaner than usual. Jonghyun must have tidied up a little since the last time he was here. Soon he hears noise from inside; looking in the little window in the door, he watches Jonghyun walk up, peep out at him, and sigh at his lazy smile and wave.

“Hi,” he says when Jonghyun opens the door. “Can I come in for an hour, maybe, tops?” He doesn’t need to rest much. His mark today should only be a little further out. He doesn’t even have to go all the way to the hills this time.

“Mmgh,” Jonghyun grumbles, even as he steps aside and gives Taemin space to step inside. His fluffy pink hair and light apron aren’t matched at all by his sharp frown. “You on another murder hunt?” he asks as Taemin passes.

“A bounty hunt, yeah,” Taemin agrees. He knows that they don’t share the same opinion on which fiends are okay to kill. Taemin technically agrees with Jonghyun’s whole “all life has value” thing, but for him, sometimes physical value is worth more than the spiritual kind. He’ll take a few thousand dollars from a grumpy merchant for saving their caravans from a rampaging bashura over whatever moral points Jonghyun will take away from him in his head for doing it. “How’s Roo doing?” he asks, wanting to change the subject to something that won’t include Jonghyun shooting him grumpy little looks the whole time he’s here.

“She’s still adorable,” Jonghyun shrugs. He closes the door behind him and slips passed Taemin and into his little kitchen. “She’s napping outside,” he adds as he opens his fridge and pulls out a pitcher of strawberry lemonade. Taemin pulls out his money pouch to pay Jonghyun’s usual hourly rest and food fee, and they exchange hands easily, used to this from the many times Taemin’s work has brought him this way.

“I have stuff to do outside, too,” Jonghyun tells him, handing him a cold little sandwich and a few plums. “So, just. Don’t break anything.” He gestures around his kitchen and small living room with a stern little look and Taemin nods. He can do that. Simple. He used to think it was weird and kind of naive of Jonghyun to leave strangers alone in his home like this without even a warning to not steal things, but that was before he came to rest here at the same time as that one bandit. Since then he’s learned that surprise traps and cursed hands are how Jonghyun likes to protect his things and has very wisely kept extra far away from anything that could have secret magic hanging around it.

Jonghyun’s back door clicks behind him and Taemin sips his lemonade, looking around at all of the cute little herb jars and charms and wards decorating his walls. His place is always so cozy and safe. Sun filters in from the window over the sink so Taemin stands there as he eats, soaking up even the indirect lights and feeling all warm on both the inside and the outside.

When he finishes eating he washes his glass and then lets himself into Jonghyun’s quaint little living room, bypassing the cushy beanbag chairs in favor of spreading out over his couch for a quick power nap. Fifteen minutes, at the most, and if he stays too long then Jonghyun will wake him up. He tugs one of Jonghyun’s spare pillows close under his chin and nuzzles it comfortably as he drifts to sleep.

Some time later, Jonghyun does manage to wake him up, but not on purpose. Taemin just hears his voice, low and soothing, murmuring words through the wooden walls.

“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” he’s humming, voice a quiet but clear hum. “I won’t hurt you, you know that, shh, shh.” A low grumble, almost a growl but far too soft, follows his words and Taemin raises sleepy eyebrows. Hmm. Seems like he’s taken in yet another injured fiend.

Taemin sits up, yawning into one hand and pushing his wavy blonde hair out of his face with the other. Patting his pockets to make sure that he still has everything, he hesitates when he feels a hard lump in his jacket. Oh, right. That thing. He wiggles his hand inside and pulls out the gem, a jagged, reddish brown hunk of carnelian. Hmm. Well, at least he has a real reason to go outside and talk to Jonghyun again besides just curiosity.

Slipping the rock back into his pocket, he makes his way to Jonghyun’s back door, pushing it open and taking in his wide backyard. The garden extends to the left, and in front of him and to the right are various simple fences separating Jonghyun’s animals. Beady-eyed wolf vultures eyeing soft cottony hares, large earth lizards soaking up the sun, that one gargoyle Jonghyun rescued from smugglers perched in the corner, and other little misfits that chose to stay with Jonghyun after he nursed them back to help all roam around in comfort. Just like Jonghyun said, Roo also is napping in her usual spot next to the door and Taemin smiles at the little pup before he turns more to his right. There, he finds Jonghyun on the ground by his water spigot, a damp scrub brush in one hand and a stone flarequestrian laid down under the other.

Taemin blinks in surprise, taking in the bulky horse as it lies in Jonghyun’s grass. What the fuck. Even for Jonghyun’s usual standards, this seems a little dangerous. Its teeth are jagged iron, it’s hooves heavy stone, it’s grey skin rough like sandpaper with sharp obsidian throughout, but still Jonghyun shushes and pets it gently.

“Come on, honey, I know you want to be clean,” he’s smiling, trailing his hand lightly down to pet its back leg. The flarequestrian snorts softly, a horsey sound of pride and stubbornness, thick smoke puffing out of its nostrils, and Jonghyun just chuckles softly. “Don’t give me that, Cinders,” he chides. “Let’s finish this, okay, and then you can go back to your running.” He pats the horse’s leg gently and Taemin watches Jonghyun’s smile grow when it huffs again and looks away with a flick of its steel tail.

“Thank you, sweetheart, my good girl,” Jonghyun beams, wetting his brush again. He presses it gently to the horse’s stomach, loosening dust and dirt with slow circles and rinsing it away with gentle trickles from the hose. The water makes its stone skin darker, but Taemin can see Jonghyun’s progress in the washed and sundried hindquarters versus the unwashed rest. He wonders how much convincing Jonghyun has had to do already.

“Hey,” he says, as softly as possible, and still winces when the flarequestrian huffs and hisss at him, eyes flashing red. Jonghyun glances at him, then looks back to his charge, shushing it gently with soft pets. Eventually, it flops its head back into the grass and Jonghyun turns to him again.

“What?” he asks shortly.

“Uh,” Taemin says, and wiggles his hand into his pocket. He steps forward only a few steps, just close enough to lob Jonghyun the stone. “I was in the city mines the other day and I found this,” he says, handing the carnelian over. “I read that it’s good for love spells, and, well, I don’t think you need any, but you can still do more with it than I can.” He shrugs. Even if Jonghyun isn’t looking for love from a human he can at least maybe get a little extra affection from his animal friends.

“Oh, neat,” Jonghyun says, looking it over with genuine interest. He rubs his thumb over the rough edge and quickly looks up at Taemin. “How much do you want for it?” he asks.

“I mean,” Taemin says. “I don’t know.” He feels a soft nudge against his ankle; looking down, he finds one of Jonghyun’s stray voidcats poking at his shoe. He crouches down to pet her, but as soon as he hovers his hand over her fur, she blinks out of existence and reappears on the other side of the yard. Taemin huffs. Little shit. Every time.

“The magic shop lady told me it could go for around two hundred if I found the right buyer, but.” He shrugs as he sits himself down fully in the grass. He doesn’t have the time or patience to find the right buyer. “Some extra food would be nice, I guess,” he says. “I’m thinking about crossing through the Marshwood to get to the capital soon, so.” That’s about a week’s worth and he always did like Jonghyun’s cooking more than the generic stuff he gets from the shops. Jonghyun regards him and his decision for a moment, looking over the carnelian again before nodding and slipping it into his pocket.

“Sure,” he says. “I’m gonna finish this first, though,” he says, gesturing to his flarequestrian. “So you might wanna just hit me up on the way back from your thing instead.”

“Oh, it’s not urgent,” Taemin shrugs. “The thing’s nocturnal. I can wait.”

“Mmgh,” Jonghyun says, “fine,” and just like that, his stern little frown is back on his lips. Taemin looks away awkwardly; he’s never been ashamed of his profession but fuck if being in Jonghyun’s animal-loving presence doesn’t make him feel kind of weird about it. Oh, well. At least Jonghyun didn’t ask him why he was in the mines in the first place to get the stone. Hearing of  _another_  bounty hunt of Taemin’s probably would have made him even grumpier.

He leans back on his palms, watching as Jonghyun turns back to his charge and makes soft, soothing noises as he wets his scrub brush again. The flarequestrian huffs and grumbles, flicks its tail in the grass and wiggles when Jonghyun gently scrubs up to its neck. Taemin can see fiery red glowing from underneath its skin and shakes his head disbelievingly. Whenever  _he_  sees one of these horses in the wild he avoids them as quickly and effectively as possible. Not worth the trouble or the burns, but Jonghyun leans over its head and pets its nose softly, not worried at all about the possibility of it opening its mouth and scorching him to a crisp.

Taemin has never quite figured out if Jonghyun is brave or just recklessly confident, or if there’s even a difference between the two.

He watches Jonghyun work in silence, all the way until Jonghyun finishes cleaning one side and casts a light protection spell to keep it clean as he urges the horse to lie on its other side. On this shoulder it has a wide bluish tint on its skin, reminiscent of Jonghyun’s usual healing salves and magic. About halfway through Jonghyun’s cleaning of its hind leg, his wind chimes out front start tingling again. It sounds like more than just the one that sounded for Taemin’s arrival and when Jonghyun looks up, he scowls.

“We’re not here,” he mumbles, and quickly casts a small spell over the both of them. After the magic settles, Taemin can still see Jonghyun, but he recognizes the feeling of an invisibility spell and raises his eyebrows.

“Do you know them, or are they just…?”

“People,” Jonghyun finishes for him, a little furrow between his brows. Taemin hears the knock on Jonghyun’s front door easily but they both stay where they are, Jonghyun grumpily wetting his scrub brush again and Taemin watching with curious interest. He leans back on his palms as the group of people out front knock again, and then a third time, and then as they peep ineffectively around the side of the house before finally giving up and continuing on. Taemin watches them shuffling on down the dirt path before turning back to Jonghyun.

“I know why you don’t like me, specifically,” he says, plucking a blade of grass from the ground and rubbing it between his fingers. “But are you ever going to tell me why you don’t like people in general?” He feels like they’re close enough for that kind of knowledge. He’s known Jonghyun for years. Unless Jonghyun has some deep, scarring, extremely personal reason for keeping his dislike of people a secret, Taemin doesn’t see why he’s never grumbled out an explanation.

Still, Jonghyun just looks at him, a sharp, annoyed little glance, before going back to his task. Taemin shrugs. Must be the former, then, he guesses. He can respect that. He yawns behind his and and looks out at the rest of the yard, at all of Jonghyun’s fiends and animals. His bunnies are hopping all around one of his big lizards, bugging it as it tries to relax, but it just swats lazily at them with its tail.

“They bred these for the war, you know,” Jonghyun says quietly.

“Hmm?” Taemin hums. He focuses again on Jonghyun, but Jonghyun isn’t looking at him. Rather, he’s still petting and washing his flarequestrian, eyes down. He nods at it and gives it a gentle pat.

“These horses,” he says. “Unbreakable stone and lethal glass, cruel teeth, an inferno on the inside. ‘Vicious and brutal temperaments,’ they said. They would break them to make them obey and then ride them into battle until they broke again. They said they were bred to be bloodthirsty proud and only care about killing those weaker than them. So aggression would be in their nature and their first instinct would be to attack.”

Taemin looks at the flarequestrian between them, eyes closed and breathing lazy.

“The war was barely three years ago,” Jonghyun says. “I don’t think this one is even second generation.” He leans close to pick a stubborn piece of dirt away with his fingernail. “All she wants to do is sleep and run in the grass.”

He doesn’t say anything after that, and neither does Taemin. They stay silent in the grass, Jonghyun only speaking in low, gentle murmurs to his stone horse as he finishes washing her rough skin. She’s clean soon, Jonghyun pulling gentle fingers through her mane, the steel strands so soft and yielding when they’re not being whipped towards an attacker. When Jonghyun stands up, she does too, a soft whinny nuzzled against his neck in thanks. Jonghyun smiles warmly, patting her rough neck, and gets her to stay for a quick, final misty rinse from his hose.

“Alright, Cinders, you can go now,” he says when he’s done. “Come back whenever.” He makes little shooing noises with his hands towards the wide plains outside his fences. She bumps him with her nose one more time before turning and taking off into a clunky run. She jumps and clears the fence easily, and then breaks into a real gallop, shrinking into the distance along with the sound of heavy hoofbeats. Jonghyun watches her go with the softest little smile on his lips before he notices Taemin watching him and looks away.

“What did you want again?” he asks, looking back almost as quickly. Taemin points to the pocket that Jonghyun put his gem in earlier.

“Some food,” he says, pushing himself to his feet and rubbing grass dampness off of his thighs. Jonghyun’s hand pats his pocket too and he nods in remembrance.

“Right, right,” he says. “This way.” He stepps passed Taemin with a wave to come along, heading towards his garden and stepping over the low fence. Taemin follows easily, first to his garden and then to the kitchen, allowing Jonghyun to pick out what he wants to give him without much protest. In no time they’ve put together a little box of food, enchanted to stay cool by Jonghyun and placed into Taemin’s enchanted bottomless bag. It should last him even a few days into the capital city, Taemin thinks, which is good.

“Thanks,” he says, patting his bag closed happily.

“Mmhmm,” Jonghyun hums. He slips around Taemin and to his front door, opening it and holding it open for him. “No offense,” he adds, “but I hope your hunt doesn’t go well.”

“Oh,” Taemin says. He muffles a snort in his hand and shrugs, taking the hint that it’s time to leave now and heading out. “None taken,” he says. Jonghyun tells him the same every time he stops here on his way to a hunt. He never mans he wants Taemin to get hurt, just that he hopes that whatever fiend it is that’s been bountied can’t be found or doesn’t have to be killed. Taemin can’t say that that’s ever happened to him before, but he can’t blame Jonghyun for hoping.

“You stay safe too,” he says as he backs down Jonghyun’s front porch. He would hate for his favorite little animal lover to ever not be here.

“Bye,” Jonghyun calls softly. He’s doing the thing where he slowly closes his door and peeps through the crack, waving with a little hand, until the person has no choice but to either leave or just talk to a door. Taemin grins at his predictable tactics and just waves back before he turns and sets off down the path, continuing on to his mark.

It’s the closest hunt he’s ever had to Jonghyun’s land; maybe this one time he’ll be able to just catch it and bring it back for Jonghyun to love.

Probably not, but at least he’ll be able to tell Jonghyun that he tried.

**Author's Note:**

> #[[[[shrug emoji]]]]  
> #if this feels kinda ffxii ish its bc ive been playing ffxii lmao  
> #jong isnt brave Or overconfident he just Really Really Loves Animals and wants to help all of them  
> #he has his whole lil ragtag farm of misfits and rescuees and babs that just dont feel like leaving after hes healed them up  
> #cinders has been around for a few months and jong loves her v v much  
> #a gentle sweet and cautious bub  
> #he gets v angry and bitter about misconceptions about fiends nd also about how ppl from the war just  
> #Left their shit nd their animals out on the fields to fend for themselves  
> #wild warhorses runnin around everywhere just tryna fit in and adapt and be free but ppl are hunting them bc theyre'''dangerous'''  
> #garbage  
> #he wants ppl to know the Facts but also like hes no activist and would rather just stay in his home away from ppl and live his farmy life  
> #charging ppl to rest and making lil healing potions and casting lil spells  
> #it is good and calm and quiet  
> #also he tells his voidcat to fuck with taem on purpose bc he thinks its hilarious  
> #shes a sweet dark magic bean


End file.
